Rob Lamothe, where and when:
Rene Brilman


Atlantis, Alkmaar, September 10th, 1996. At the last minute I found out that Rob was playing a few gigs in the Netherlands. I can remember this one in Alkmaar and another one in Almelo. Also playing that evening were Lenita Erickson and Bruce Kulick. To my big surprise Lenita and Bruce were opening. The Atlantis venue was mostly filled with Kiss-fans. Rob played together with two girls and a guy (I don't know their names for sure, but I think one of the girls was Shelley and the guy was Raphael). It was a very emotional set. Most of the Kiss-fans didn't like it because it wasn't heavy. I loved it...When the show was finished I stepped onto the stage to have some Riverdogs stuff signed by Rob. He recognized me! Upon leaving Atlantis, I found a paper by the door saying that Rob was playing in the Hotel Winston Amsterdam as well, only two days later.


Hotel Winston, Amsterdam, September 12th, 1996. The same as in the Atlantis. A very emotional and great set. At the end of the show there was this drunk guy who got onto stage to say some things in the microphone. Rob asked nobody in particular ,very seriously, to remove the guy because if he had to do it, he would use some serious violence... I think this is the time when Rob wrote Ship Song (Hotel Winston, room 303, and me I'm high).


Cafe Bullus, Helmond, March 11, 1998. Two days before the show I found out that Rob was playing. I phoned to the cafe and the owner (Bullus) told me that it was a sold-out. When I told him I was going to come all the way from Amsterdam (Helmond is some 80 miles away from Amsterdam. I know for you Americans that's just around the corner but for us Dutch guys, that's the other side of the country...) just to see Rob. When I told him that I'd seen him and talked to him before, he said I was welcome. I went there with two friends. One of them had been at the Riverdogs concert in the Milky Way back in ‘93. The other one only knew Rob from the Gravity album. Upon arriving in Helmond, it turned out that this show was a kind of a showcase for the new album Being Human and that the album was on sale that night as well. Rob played an acoustic set together with a black guy. Again I'm not sure, but I think it was Chris Briscoe. The bar was mostly filled by record people. You know how that works. They're not interested in the music but in the (free) drinks. There were some 20 or 30 real fans. They were standing in a half circle around Rob and were singing all the lyrics. When Rob wanted to finish after one and a half hours they simply wouldn't let him go and started to ask requests. Rob said ok, but he explained that he didn't know all the songs and that we had to help him out in case he had forgotten the lyrics. No problem! He (and Chris) played on for another hour. This is definitely the best show I've ever seen by Rob. My two friends agree. Rob created a very intimate and emotional atmosphere. He has the voice and this evening he had the audience to do it as well...The whole show was "taped" (minidisc) by Bullus, but I don't know what happened to the recordings. I know that the other Rob (from Bittermoon) has some recordings of this evening too but from another source... Afterwards Rob signed all my Riverdogs stuff. On my Absolutely live CD he wrote: "My hand is tired!!!" because there was too much to sign...


Hotel Winston, Amsterdam, December 1st, 1998, with Bittermoon This show was part of a little tour through the Netherlands with Bittermoon. I didn't know what to expect but it turned out to be a very nice evening, although there weren't too many visitors. Rob played some solo tracks, he did " Pull Me Under" together with (Super)Floor. Bittermoon played some songs and then they joined on stage. It was the first time in several years that I saw Rob playing with a band. They really rocked! I don't have to tell you since you have the videotape of this evening...


Cafe Roeds, Den Haag (The Hague), December 3rd, 1998, with Bittermoon Two days after the show in the Hotel Winston. I had told my girlfriend about Rob and she wanted to see him play. The Cafe Roeds is what we call an "eetcafe", which means that's it's a combined bar/restaurant. We decided to have dinner and stay to watch the show. Five minutes after we came in, Rob and Bittermoon entered the place. They came all the way from Hamburg where they played the night before. They had a big laugh when they saw that they were noted on the billboard as Roy Lamothe and Bittermoon. Originially they were supposed to start at ten o'clock but at that time there were still people having dinner. So they started playing at midnight! The basic idea of the set was the same as in the Hotel Winston two days before. The band would play, Rob would play and then they would all play together. Now playing in a restaurant is a bit different from playing in a club. First of all, in this restaurant there was no stage! Second, everyone was sitting instead of standing in front of the band. However it would turn out fine. The audience was great this evening. They were really listening to Rob's songs and lyrics, and they would stay quiet during the songs while they were very loud with appreciation when a song was finished. Rob was very impressed by it. It gave him lots of positive energy, so he kept on playing his solo numbers, just he and his guitar. He also kept on drinking this heavy Belgian beer..The show stoppedsomewhere at three o'clock in the morning because the restaurant really had to close! After the showcase in Helmond I never thought I would see such a show again. I didn't see it this night, but it came close... Jannett (my girlfriend) and I went on to see Lenny Kravitz the next day.But for some reason, in the weeks that followed, she kept on talking about this great show we had seen with this great singer, named Rob Lamothe...


Hotel Winston, Amsterdam, April 6th 1999, with Bittermoon This night turned out to be a little bit of a replay from the show in December, as far as I can remember. I brought my camera this time and took some photos. The show was great. I knew lots of people in the audience, so it was a great night out. I talked with nearly every one (including Rob L., Floor, Rob vd B. and Bennie). Rob vd B. took a great picture with me trying to smash Rob L.'s head with a beerbottle. He used Rob's camera so Rob should have this picture. I don't have a copy...